[Music]
hi I'm Diane Helms and I'm Christie Brad
and Nene and we are here today and view
the fall in the Battle City in front of
an old Victorian it's a gorgeous place
to live yeah I'm a native to the area
and I can't wait to show you my favorite
places we have been loving this area
living this area for over 40 years
we can't wait to take you on a tour of
some of the highlights of the areas that
we like the most so right now we're
standing in about a city in front of
them about a theatre a wonderful place
if you love live theater it's one of the
oldest existing theaters in California
it is Mark Twain was here Jack London
was here it's got some great history and
great theater still is the type of
history that we have here the gold miner
days and all these fabulous old
Victorians and Vicky tones in our area
all the Victorians that are you know
every other house in that area is
they're just beautiful there's such
culture here one of my favorite things
there are the rivers the rivers are
right at our fingertips and they're just
such a great place to go cool off rock
outcroppings and places to explore and
it's just a few minutes from downtown
exactly and the trails lots of hiking
mountain biking horseback riding trails
in this area I mean BLM land as you know
all around us and so it's a lot of open
land that you can take your mountain
bike and go for miles and miles get on
your horse and do that stop by the
streams and they give a river like you
said
and also you know the empire mind you
know we just kind of take that for
granted because we live here but that is
wonderful history and a great tour to go
there it's also a great destination for
family portraits or senior portraits for
your student boy those turned out I've
seen some real beautiful wedding
pictures and yes the only portraits
there's a lot of great wedding venues
around here I've noted you know there's
just so much to offer here and I think
it's just its quality of life and family
and just things to do not just if you're
not in the bicycling or or hiking if
you're into just the in history and
checking out the area or music or
theater or the Arts there is just
there's just so much here not from young
to old
whether you're retiring or beginning a
family or it's just the place you want
to reside it's just got everything it's
got something for everyone so we'd like
to thank you for joining us today right
now we're here in Nevada City in front
of the miners foundry a very historic
building with a wine tasting room right
next door and again I'm Dianne Helms and
I'm Christie Brad adeney and we are a
mother-daughter team thank you for
touring with us today
[Music]
welcome to the firehouse Museum I'm
Wally Hegman I'm the director and
curator of the collection here this
building was built in 1861 and served as
a firehouse from the times of hamp old
carts till 1938 with motorized vehicles
in 1945 it became a museum courtesy of
the city of Nevada and we have been
there here ever since this part of our
collection represents the niche
non-indians who are the indigenous
people of this area they lived
immediately they called the Nevada City
hasta ma and they had a campsite over by
or the courthouse and the courthouse
lawn is now and all in through that area
out on cement hill was the Rancheria or
the reservation reggie is just a nice
name and we are very fortunate to have
some of their baskets in our collection
they were known for the water type
baskets that they actually boiled there
a corn Russian and they were typically
of this size for a cooking basket bars
are considered a particular interest in
that these haven't come from a collector
who's collected pristine baskets he's
actually been used and worn and repaired
over the years you can see the repairs
inside and all of these came from
various members of the Historical
Society and community who wanted to
preserve them and have them someplace
where they can be seen by the public we
also have a collection of pictures of
people who actually lived on the
Rancheria Venetian on descendants from
era okay thank you for joining us here
at the firehouse museum we're open May
through October from one o'clock to four
pm and closed on Mondays then during the
winter we closed from October to
[Music]
I'm Brian Blair I'm the curator at the
Nevada County narrow-gauge railroad
museum when the Gold Rush started out
here in the two towns of Nevada City and
Grass Valley were built in 1850 it
became apparent very quickly that they
were gonna need heavy mining machinery
to go deep into the earth to find the
goal in the local area and in those days
the only way to come up here to bring
that equipment up was by horse and mule
and the need for a railroad was known
for many years in 1875 construction
began on the Nevada County narrow-gauge
the building superintendent was John
Kidder he came to town his wife Sarah
and built this 22 and a half mile
railroad in eighteen months he was asked
to stay on as the operating
superintendent and eventually owned the
railroad it became old man Cooter's
railroad and he operated up until 1901
when he died just prior to his death
they had transferred all the stock into
Sarah's name and she became the first
woman president of the American railroad
the railroad was used in addition to
hauling all of that equipment mining
equipment all the outgoing products from
this area whether it was finished lumber
dairy products even a copper ore for a
time were shipped via the narrow gauge
down to Colfax where it was all loaded
on to the Central Pacific in the first
days later the Southern Pacific in today
it's a Union Pacific
well we invite you to visit us here at
the Nevada County narrow gauge railroad
museum we're located at number five
keator Court in Nevada City and you can
find our operating hours on our website
thank you
[Music]
[Applause]
hello I'm chalene Hollen manager of the
Al Jazeera biblical gardens I invite you
to visit our beautiful gardens with
Christ as its name
the alto serie biblical gardens are a
nonprofit organization open to the
public these lovely gardens dedicated to
God are available for events such as
weddings church and memorial services
and baptisms for a donation our gardens
tell the story of Christ through statues
and artwork displayed along the shady
garden paths a 90-foot cascading
waterfall fills the stream which flows
through the property giving many lovely
photographic opportunities a large
outdoor Chapel can see 150 guests the
chapel has an altar with brilliant
stained glass and a canopy of trees and
vines the picnic grounds may be rented
for a rehearsal dinner Bible studies
luncheons or a daytime event no
barbecuin or open fires are permitted
alcohol is also prohibited baptisms and
the natural pool highlighted by a small
waterfall are encouraged with a donation
of $10 per person to help with the
upkeep of this area there is also a
labyrinth a sacred tool for prayer it is
a contemplative garden space the gardens
are open daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
they are a place of meditation
reflection and retreat the sprinklers
are on Sunday through Thursday at 7 p.m.
we accept any support you can provide
from monetary donations to working in
the gardens contact me at five-30 272 1
3 6 3 or visit our website at
[Music]
www.norcalhypno.com
[Music]
hi it's Marty Caldwell we're at
rough-and-ready vineyards and guest
house it's a family owned vineyard and
guest house here that sleeps 16 people
we're welcoming you here to see a little
bit more about our wonderful facility
[Music]
our unique 16 acre estate under the
Heritage Oaks has plenty of room for
your family and friends to get together
spend some time barbecuing exploring
enjoying beautiful Nevada County and
celebrating any event you might have
together together for here at the
rough-and-ready vineyards in guest house
we have a beautiful vacation rental four
bedrooms three baths and has beds for
sixteen people we have an elegant master
suite that has a beautiful bath
including a clawfoot tub
[Music]
one of the most unique features here at
the guest house is our beauty salon it
has a chair and think we also have a
dressing room besides the master bedroom
we have three private bedrooms and a
sunroom all featuring sleeping for your
guests
we have a great room that features a
wood-burning stove a large screen TV
complete with satellite we have a fully
equipped kitchen that really is a
perfect place for a family to gather
cook together and share we have an
on-site chapel that can be used for many
things some guests have used it for
weddings receptions family reunions
dinners or just as a gathering place
with family and friends
our beautiful 16 acres features an
Italian marble gazebo many Meadows a
bridge over our seasonal Creek and of
course our family vineyard which you're
free to walk through or even plan
intimate dinners between the vines
[Music]
hey I'm Diane Helms and I'm Christian
grant adeney welcome to Grass Valley yes
we love Grass Valley Christi was
actually born here in Grass Valley great
restaurants around here right now we're
sitting in from the Sergio's
got outside dining inside dining and you
can just about pick any restaurant you
wants to and say the we can't yes you
can and I personally love coming down
here now I did choose we're going to
take to a court or a little bit here of
all the areas that we like
and here we are in downtown Grass Valley
it's Smith's winery tasting rank you
we're getting a nice pace of their local
wine here that it's been family owned
for years there are many great wineries
here in Nevada County and this is just
one of them thank you cheers Cheers
and I love with you the vineyards you
know when justice rows and rows of lines
growing in the pasture land which
reminds me pasture we can go from
pasture land and valleys to high
mountain peaks just in our area alone
yeah just the other day show a property
I went from one end of the county to the
next and it was a gorgeous day a
beautiful Drive and it's a good reminder
of where we live and why we live here
it's just beautiful one of my favorite
things are the rivers the rivers are
right at our fingertips and they're just
such a great place to go cool off and
the trails lots of hiking mountain
biking horseback riding trails in this
area now there's just so much to offer
here and I think it's just it's quality
of life and family and just things to do
not just if you're not into bicycling or
or hiking if you're into just being
history in checking out the area or
music or theater or the arts there is
just there's just so much here and I'm
from young to old
whether you're retiring they're
beginning a family or it's just the
place you want to reside it's just got
everything it's got something for
everyone
that's right again thank you for joining
us and again I'm Diane Helms and I'm
Kristy bratty Nene and we really
appreciate you coming in to worry Grass
Valley with us
[Music]
hi I'm Heather McDonald and today I'm on
the town in historic downtown Grass
Valley and when I want something tasty
to eat I take a bite out of a history
right here at Marshalls pasty the
original Cornish pasty and I'm inside
delicious Marshalls pasties and who do
we have here Elizabeth Davis and my
mother's the one that owns place and
before that with my grandmother how many
years has it been here we're going on 51
years this is the original Cornish pasty
yeah so my grandmother she when she
first had the restaurant and then a
pasty on the menu Cornish ladies would
come in and they helped perfect her
recipe from their family recipes and
gourmet so cool the cousin Jenny's as
they're called right now these are made
fresh daily aren't they they are every
day and what types do you have gosh we
have the beef and chicken and turkey ham
and cheese sausage broccoli and cheese
vegetable I get them all Apple I'm gonna
dessert when the Apple which I really
love to a walk around town here and so
when are you open
we are open Monday through Friday from
9:30 to 6:00 Saturday 10:00 to 6:00 and
closed on Sunday okay well you know
where they're located down here in the
corner of Neil and Neil in historic
downtown Grass Valley thanks for being
with us you
[Music]
I'm at the corner of South Auburn and
Empire streets and I want you to meet my
chiropractor dr. Darwin s Lee care of
the chiropractic plus clinic hello there
I'm dr. Darwin Leake owner and operator
of chiropractic plus in Grass Valley
California been here since 1985 and
really liked it here
I'd like you to meet Cathy Sousa office
manager and if you're having any
difficulties and need an appointment
she'll help you with that she knows how
to do it I'd like to show you around a
little bit show you what we have here
offer well here we have a full x-ray
facility so if someone comes in and
they've had some trauma or there's a
suspicion of a fracture or more serious
hard tissue damage we can do x-rays
right here on site so that's available
we also have intersegmental traction
table that's helpful for people to
restore motion in their spine and
traction if they have a hot disc or
something along those lines well here's
one of the treatment rooms in the office
and we're able to provide gentle
manipulation of the spine to restore
motion people have trauma they have
injuries they overdo it at home
chiropractic manipulation has been shown
to facilitate and speed up healing
processes we deal with motor vehicle
accident patients weekend warriors they
do go out and over do it on their
bicycle or in their triathlon or
whatever and we have ultrasound therapy
and laser therapy available there are
conditions that respond well to that
sprains strains soft tissue swelling
we also offer a massage therapy and have
a massage therapist on staff to meet
your needs there we welcome you to come
in at any time thanks
[Music]
the Nevada County grand jury is
searching for new members right now what
does a grand jury do they are
investigators on behalf of local
citizens the grand jury reviews the
conduct of County government watches how
tax dollars are spent interviews
witnesses and gathers evidence then the
grand jury makes recommendations via
published reports to the Superior Court
to ensure your County government is
efficient and lawful if this sounds
interesting to you for detailed
information and an application visit in
CC o u RT dotnet hi Heather McDonald
here on highway 49 at Euro motors and
today we're going to find out when you
should be changing that windshield wiper
blade Christophe at Euro motors over
here on street or Road off highway 49 in
between Auburn and Grass Valley one
thing I want to do show people a little
bit about is how to check or change
their wiper blades I see way too many
cars come in here with wiper blades that
are just they don't wipe they smear or
they barely wipe it's probably one of
the cheapest things you can do a lot of
accidents happen in more weather due to
poor visibility which directly relates
to wiper blades it's like I said a very
cheap and easy thing to do yourself
there's very many different types of
wiper blades out there but for the most
part most all wiper blades they're just
a giant squeaky and that's rubber and as
time goes on the rubber wears out it
gets brittle we've seen multiple
we're the squeegee part actually just
completely separates and there's nothing
there like I said there's a lot of
different designs modern technology most
wiper blades are a one-piece design
there's these older styles with multiple
contact points for the most part they're
they're all pretty much the same price
the one-piece designs a little more
expensive they last a little longer I'd
do two just less moving parts the
easiest way to change your wiper blades
is to what you call put them in service
mode like this car you know I can't I
can't change the wiper blade it hits the
hood 90% of the European cars it's gonna
be like that you can't change the wiper
blade unless they're in a position where
you can actually change them so what you
usually can do is you know you can turn
the wipers on and you turn the ignition
off when they're in the up position in
the industry we call this service mode
for the sole reason that's how you
service them all wipers are different
some are very difficult to take off some
are very easy you just got to have a
little patience and just kind of look at
it and design most of them will have
some sort of clip that you just pop off
this one doesn't have a clip so you
would just pull it straight down a lot
of the Audi's have a very complex system
but for the most part if you look at it
you kind of study it see how it works
that says this one they just clip off
just like that very easy pop the new
ones on the best way to see if you have
the correct wiper blade for your vehicle
is to measure with a tape measure to see
how long it is all wiper blades across
the board come in inch sizes you know
you measure it by the inches the other
thing is most cars these days especially
European cars very specific on the wiper
blade so you can buy a kit or it's both
wiper blades together
for your specific vehicle you have
passenger and the driver
another important thing that's also
often overlooked is the rear wiper blade
you know not having a correct rear wiper
blade you know could cause damage to the
rear windshield a lot of people don't
use it but one thing you got to remember
is most cars that give the front wiper
blades on in the rain and you put the
vehicle in Reverse that rear ones gonna
wipe a couple times I can't tell you how
many cars I've seen come in here with
scratched rear windows which could have
been avoided by replacing the wiper
blade which you know a rear wiper blade
could be anywhere from five bucks to
thirty or forty dollars it's a very very
cheap you know way to insure you don't
you can see the road and you don't cause
damage to your windshield and like I
said for the amount it cost to do your
wiper blades it's it's a no-brainer it's
very easy to do it's not very expensive
to do at all
I'm Christoph here at Euro motors I've
streeter Road off highway 49 in between
Auburn and Grass Valley
we specialize in European vehicles we
repair them we pretty much do everything
except bodywork today we present our
1999 documentary Nevada City queen of
the Gold Rush narrated by the late Tim
O'Connor and featuring our top Gold Rush
historians we are proud this documentary
about the gold rush era of Nevada County
broadcast on PBS now Nevada City Queen
of the gold rush
[Music]
in 18-49 California was the land of
golden dreams and rich opportunities
gold hungry prospectors flocked to the
Sierra Nevada foothills anxious to grab
at nuggets from cold rushing streams
overnight mining camps became towns and
almost as quickly these towns were
abandoned the lure of easier pickings up
the road made a gold town a ghost town
within months but there was one great
city which endured a city that became
the queen city of the gold rush Nevada
City
[Music]
hello i'm tim o'connor california
virtually was the center of the world
during the goldrush era period of
between 1848 and 1856 I mean thousands
of gold seekers came from all over the
world to the Sierra Nevada foothills
here and these migrants built and
established hundreds of towns up and
down the 49er Trail
I guess just following the next call for
the next gold strike most of these towns
today would just be colorful names on a
historic map but not Nevada City this
center of the Gold Rush thrives today as
a modern day tourist mecca well it still
clings very very tightly to its historic
past I mean this city has preserved so
many of its gold rush air and buildings
that downtown is listed on the National
Register for Historic Places
why did Nevada City become the most
famous and influential of all the Gold
Rush Arab cities well come along with me
I'll introduce you to some colorful
characters and some famous faces and and
some golden discoveries that led to her
fame and fortune and also to her
indelible mark on California
one of California's earliest pioneer
businessmen was captain John Sutter he
was building a sawmill along a Fork of
the American River at Coloma near
Sacramento in charge of the mill was his
partner marshal from New Jersey one
winter morning Marshall had his Mormon
workers shut off the water to the mill
race they were digging he walked the
shallow water of the mill race checking
the depth of the ditch Marshall noticed
small pebbles of a dull gold color under
the water as he gathered the small
pebbles and flakes Marsh was hopeful it
was real gold he held in his hand it was
January 24 1848 within the year the
world would hear about the gold
discovered in California and the world
would come
as thousands of pioneers crowded the
Overland trails or sailed into San
Francisco Bay every Creek and River in
the foothills became crowded with
prospectors these gold seekers of 1849
blaze their own 49er Trail through what
today is known as California's Gold
Country there was talk that a creek up
north was yielding over a pound of gold
a day thousands rushed to the new strike
at Deer Creek dried Diggins
soon to be called Nevada City they found
a pretty good supply here on the banks
of Deer Creek right here in Nevada City
and so they concentrated and they built
a settlement here in Nevada City
things happen very very drastically
overnight suddenly there was tweets that
appear or so many camps so many tents
were set up so many saloons naturally he
just happened basically overnight I mean
at one time between Grass Valley and
Nevada City or vice versa I mean it were
20,000 people living here the gold fever
rages as bad as ever and the quality
collected has not diminished but
increased provisions clothing and all
the necessities of life are the most
exorbitant prices living was always
expensive in this country but now it
passes all reason William rich within
the first year the gold camp along Deer
Creek had two names called welds upper
store Deer Creek dry diggings finally
the name Nevada which means snow-covered
was chosen in 1850 after the state of
Nevada took the same name in 1864 the
town officially became Nevada City the
first mining that was done in California
was all plasma mines
placer mining involved in washing dirt
separate Fool's Gold is heavier than
most other kinds of materials dirt and
so that one of the ways you can use
gravity and water to separate these two
things when that had been pretty well
played out or at least the miners
thought so they move further and further
away from water because they had
reasoned by looking and observation
empirical methods that the gravel
surrounding and nearby creeks also
contain gold because they too were at
one time part of the watercourses so
they did their dried diggings there dry
mining they also dug deep into the
ground straight down vertically and that
was called coyote in coyote holes but
maybe went straight down on the ground
and brought thee up but it all depended
on water once they got the gravel they
took it to water and took it to water is
the key
[Music]
prospectors had dug up great piles of
goldrich dirt now their task was
separating the tiny gold flakes from
that dirt but the current method of
hauling the dirt to the water and then
pouring water into the sluice box was
slow and back-breaking work there had to
be a better way it took a couple of
enterprising Nevada City prospectors to
find a more efficient method of taking
gold from the earth and California's
terrain would be changed forever
[Music]
so a guy named Madison a fellow from
Connecticut said well look why don't we
put a nozzle on this hose and blast down
the dirt and it'll all run down these
ditches and so on we won't have to work
so hard
Eli Miller fashioned and a nozzle of
sheet metal which he Madison attached to
a hose which had been perfected by
antoine Chabot and washed down hillsides
of gravel first small little Hills and
then later on my whole mountains but the
hydraulic method was also very
destructive as one in two men operations
gave way to huge conglomerates and
millions of dollars were invested in
building dams and reservoirs
[Music]
with all this water power needed for
mining a young Nevada City miner
switched from gold digger to water
supplier Charles Marsh founded
prospectors too impatient to build their
own water systems would pay Marsh versus
water Charles Marsh then embarked on a
business venture that would one day
switch electric power on in California a
man named Charles Marsh who incidentally
also apparently was the first white
liner to arrive at Nevada City July 30th
18-49 and stayed here and stayed here
for the rest of his life at least until
the last two or three months of his life
and he made a career among other things
of developing water sources and creating
mining ditches and one of the very first
ditches bringing water into the diggings
near Nevada City was one that he and
some partners who put up the money and
did some of the work put together in the
fall of 1850 and it ended up bringing
water into a reservoir up about where
the County Building is now the Rood set
it up in the hill above Nevada City
there are there are different ways of
carrying water you couldn't always run
it along in dirt bottoms because
oftentimes as you came down the mountain
you you for instance crossed a ravine
where a stream was coming down there
when a water drained down through so
every time the crossed our ravine every
time they crossed on a channel they
would build a flume which is essentially
essentially a trough it's like a
watering trough with no end water that
spilled down the great flume works to
the mines came out
damns high in the Sierra dams built by
Charles Marsh of Nevada City by 1854 he
owned the consolidated Rock Creek Deer
Creek and South Yuba canal company his
company would eventually become the
first of more than the 500 corporations
today that make up Pacific Gas &
Electric Company in the 1850s Nevada
City prospectors were looking for gold
nuggets flakes and dust they panned
streams are dug into the dirt then in
June of 1850 George McKnight stumbled
over an outcropping of quartz rock in
neighboring Grass Valley the rock was
ribbond with gold it was the first
discovery of gold in quartz in the area
a few months later another ledge of gold
in quartz was discovered and this ledge
would lead to an underground mountain of
gold and the greatest gold mine in
California the Empire mine arguably it
could be the greatest quartz mine it was
certainly one that had operated off and
on over a longer period than any other
mine it was closed for like most mines
it was closed for long periods of times
but yeah it was first at about 1850 and
it did not actually stop producing gold
until about nineteen fifty-six I was
more than 100 years
[Music]
every morning before sunup we crowd on
the skip that takes us hundreds of feet
down when we get out it's 9:00 and never
see daylight except on my day off in
it's more than 100 year reign as the
greatest gold mine in California the
Empire brought forth more than six
million ounces of gold this contributed
greatly to the more than seventeen
million ounces of gold taken from Nevada
County since 1850 Nevada County mines
produced more gold than any other area
of California
this made Nevada City the richest city
of the California Gold Rush
[Music]
as a result people wrote about this they
talked about his place and more people
came just because of they had to see the
people who came would add their own mark
on the Queen City of the gold rush and
some made their mark on the entire state
of California and the world
a young mining engineer named George
Hearst
came West from Missouri during the gold
rush he came to the gold seekers
destination City Nevada City because of
his education and mining he was able to
invest wisely in local mines but it was
his inside a friendship with the local a
sayers that would seal his fate as one
of the richest men in the West in 59
when the assay was made of the ore that
damn blue stuff as it was referred to
from the Comstock Lode the Comstock area
of Nevada which is now Virginia City in
that area was assayed here in Nevada
City and also simultaneously it was
confirmed by Atwood in Grass Valley here
it was James J OTT the assayer in Anza
assay office but anyway George first got
wind of that and he he was one of the
ones that took off for the Comstock and
there's where his big bucks were made
this Nevada City miner would eventually
established the University of California
and one of the greatest family fortunes
in the world
[Music]
he would one day be known as the
greatest American author of his time
but when Samuel Clemens arrived in
Nevada City he was taking his first
steps on the long road to fame and
fortune there's no doubt about it that
Sam Clemens Mark Twain was the most
famous person ever to sign the register
at the National Hotel he returned from
the Sandwich Islands in 1866 and landed
in San Francisco where he had worked in
the newspaper business prior to going to
the islands his buddy said well look why
don't you where's your lecture about
what you've seen over there you know you
talk a good line and of course now let's
keep in mind that mark was in his 30s we
always think of Mark Twain is the big
white mustache white-haired sage in a
white linen suit with a big black cigar
all historians agree that Mark Twain was
one of the finest platform lectures at
this country ever developed as well as
being a literary genius
[Music]
she was a great beauty of the goldrush
era who came to perform then stayed for
several years
dancer Lola Montez was already a
legendary femme fatale when she arrived
in July 1853 her famous act was called
the spider dance because she would knock
imitation spiders off her hoops as she
danced in quite daring attire
she was also noted for her affairs with
the rich and the famous she was credited
with starting a revolution in Bavaria as
the mistress of King Ludwig Lola
encouraged scandal but may have grown
tired of being notorious when she
decided to retire for a few years near
Nevada City she was quite a celebrity
during her stay between 1853 and 1856
women were rare in California during the
early years of the Gold Rush miners felt
this keenly of all the hardships their
Diaries spoke of being without female
companionship and their cooking was high
on the list of complaints this meant
great business opportunities for women
yeah another entrepreneur in Nevada City
in the 1850s was Eleanor du monde a
French lady who arrived by stagecoach
from Marysville and she was very nice
well-dressed and in her 20s and no one
had any idea what what was going on and
a few few days later she had run into
store a storefront on Broad Street and
opened the gambling hall dinner my
goodness what in the world is this a
woman running a gambling hall she was
very popular because she was a gambler
and you must remember that the
population in those days was basically
ad 85% or more a single man and of
course he liked to gamble therefore she
was very part
she introduced the well-known game ovah
heah is twenty-one along with other
types of game she was also known as they
she didn't take any hassle shall we say
from the miner she kind of clean house
she served the best champagne plan for
course imported it was kind of like a
like friend that I claimed before we say
eventually Eleanor left Nevada City and
fell on hard times as she grew older and
like fuzz developed over her lip the
once great beauty of Nevada City became
known as Madame mustache
[Music]
as Nevada City grew rich in gold the
Queen City of the gold rush also grew
rich in cultures the most colorful and
dominant of all the new immigrants were
the Chinese well there was Chinese
arriving here in 18-49 50 51 roughly
about 68 thousand arrived by 1852 they
were kind of late comers on the Gold
Rush
then in 1852 about 20,000 Chinese came
over most americans thought it was their
gold and they weren't going to let these
guys get in here their goal so they
would come up through Deer Creek the
Yuba and start just working for gold and
the white guys would chase him off and
tell them to leave and destroy all their
things the Chinese were tolerated in
Nevada City during the gold rush between
18-49 and 1856 they were needed as
laborers to build the ditches flumes and
dams for hydraulic mining a good portion
of commercial street in Nevada City
became Chinatown soon my research to the
whole gold country Auburn in Nevada City
about are the only two towns that really
have any anything left that was Chinese
the Chinese were always an important
source of labor for building projects in
addition to building the intricate flume
and ditch systems during the gold rush
their labor talents were also needed for
Nevada County's biggest project at the
1870s a railroad line was finally going
to be built linking Nevada City and
Grass Valley with the Central Pacific
line to San Francisco and the Chinese
were needed to help lay the tracks over
steep mountains and around sheer cliffs
tracks for the new Nevada County narrow
gauge railroad
[Music]
well Nevada County Grass Valley in
Nevada City long felt the need for
better transportation their goods came
by boat to Marysville and then by stage
freight wagon from Marysville up through
new town into Nevada City and then there
was the spur they went through
rough-and-ready and on to Grass Valley
okura this was fine in the summer but in
the winter when the mud was axle deep it
was really rough as I said a railroad is
a it was a status symbol and also was an
absolute economic necessity so they
started building in 1874 and of course
they built from Colfax toward Grass
Valley and Nevada City they had to do
that for obvious reasons the rolling
stock and the rails and so on in March
the Central Pacific freight trains at
Colfax they had to build a large a
trestle across the Bear River and in
1876 the railroad was ready to operate
and it was written narrow-gauge 22 miles
long and it served the community well
clear up until 1942
[Music]
the Nevada County narrow gauges famous
engine number five found a new home in
Hollywood and has appeared in many
movies
however Nevada City citizens brought the
steam engine back home in a continuing
effort to preserve the Queen city's
historic past
well Nevada City ask your thing is could
still be called the queen of the know of
the northern mines I mean that the
architecture is still there thanks to
great ordinance which was passed several
years ago and works by several
individuals as well as the historically
minded persons who devote all the energy
to make this town what it is today I
mean it isn't a Registry of Historic
Places national places it's a unique
town that there is none like it open on
the Mother Road I mean the architecture
some of it ought to be is the same as in
sono or Jackson Robin or Passover or
whatever but nevertheless it is it is
truly unique today Nevada City is an
outstanding if not the outstanding
example of gold country architecture in
the state of California the League of
California cities selected Nevada City
as a prime example of a count pulling
itself up by its own bootstraps all of
these old buildings planned downtown
Nevada City are historic not only in
fact but in terms of being registered
the federal government and the state
government mrs. suna there's a national
registry in which the whole district is
a national historic district there
aren't very many places in this country
where so many blocks I said off
[Music]
if somebody from 150 years ago budakh be
able to come here now
you or they could find their way around
you can look out here and you will see
the same hills and you see the same
creeks you see the same buildings and
streets that you'll see in the old old
photographs I often will stand at the
top of Broad Street early on a Sunday
morning nobody's out nobody's about and
I can imagine myself a hundred years ago
or sixty years ago or 130 years ago you
can actually put yourself in any part of
this time part of it is just something
out there being used as it was before in
their stores that we're stores then
there are stores now and it looked not a
lot different physically in the stores
and we're here hundred years there are
hotel still acting as hotels the streets
we we not only have people walking on
the streets and driving cars I'm really
actually still have horses carriages on
the streets and so that you can get a
feel you can get a look better instead
of it unlike a Disneyland which is
fabricated which is example which is
which is follow me based on a reality
that maybe existed somewhere else in
some past country this is at least place
haven't got a real place a real time
real things that did happen
yes Nevada City was a place where things
happened a place where the largest gold
mines operator where this young
prospectors could become great men and
establish the very foundations of our
state
a city that gold-seekers the world over
and made their destination a city of
rich culture and historic beauty
where the past is preserved for the
future about his cities is truly the the
queen of the gold rush
[Music]
well I hope you had a lot of fun turning
Nevada County today with me thank you
for watching the go country TV show
[Music]
[Applause]